Verge
by tricolorwes
Summary: The clue hunt is over. The vespers are rising, and Amy desperately tries to unite the Cahill branches. As the branches remain skeptical, deciding to go their own path, the Cahill children also start losing faith. Amy initiates a mini clue hunt in a desperate attempt to bring them together. What they discover shocks everyone. They're on the verge of something... What is it?
1. Prologue

_New York City, New York_

 _Two weeks after the clue hunt_

Everything was silent at the 103th floor of the empire state building. A dainty but elegant figure, clad in dark velvety robes looked out of the glass walls of the city's greatest sky scraper. _It's all so beautiful,_ she thought as she looked across central park and the glinting glass buildings, reflecting light from the busy streets below where neon signs glowed in shades of pink, green, and blue and an occasional car or two flashed its headlights. _Why can't everything be this way?_ She watched the quiet, tranquil streets of the night, her eyes trailing the last car on the street as it slowly careened out of sight. _Why can't the world stay this peaceful?_ She sighed deeply and rubbed her temples with her long, delicate fingers.

Now that the clue hunt had ended, she knew better than anyone it was time to fulfill her promise with Grace Cahill - actually, and old oath that stretched centuries before, when Olivia Cahill had made her best friend pledge for the sake of the world, a duty that was passed down for generations, leading down to her. _W_ _hen the time comes,_ Grace had repeated _, initiate the pact. Activate the quest. They'll need you most when it's over._ She had wheezed into the phone, and worried, she had asked her if anything was wrong. It was a silly question really - _everything was about to go wrong,_ and they both knew it too well. At the same time, however, they both knew they were nearing the end of a tiresome and neverending battle - they were on the edge of destruction and failure, but also on something much better. They both felt it. They were on the verge, alright. Though on what, she mused, she couldn't really say.

She pressed the button on the intercom which lay on the round table in front of her. Static ran through the still air of the room, then a voice rang out from the speakers. "Yes, Victor. It's me." She paused for a moment, "And yes, I am initiating the pact." She stared out, knowing the city - and the world at large, would never quite be the same again. "It's time we started phase two."


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**

 **Except for characters and storylines that I've made up, everything else that is true to the 39 clues series belongs to scholastic and their awesome writers.**

* * *

 _London, United Kingdom_

 _The day after the end of the clue hunt_

* * *

All Amy could feel, was the heat.

Searing, biting, inescapable heat. It did not end. Every fiber of her body screamed out in pain. She could hardly bring herself to breathe. She coughed and sputtered as dark fumes choked her slowly, pushing out the oxygen from her lungs. Her vision was dotted with black spots. She expected herself to black out, or die. But no matter how worse the pain got, her senses did not dull. She did not turn into a heap of ash and fade out of existence.

 _I am in Hell_. Amy thought.

Through the searing pain, she could sense the dark endless abyss surrounding her burning form morph into something hazy but familiar. Charred crème painted walls, a crumbling chocolate-colored desk with heavy math textbooks and piles of paper documents all engulfed in fire came into view. On the floor lay a figure, a young woman, clutching something that looked like a journal close to her chest as she frantically darted her eyes around the emblazoned room. Amy saw her mouth open and yell something, but she couldn't make out what it was.

One of the beams creaked then crashed, sending burning splinters showering towards the woman. She yelped in pain as they came flew towards her, covering up her face, hands shaking, the journal dropping in her lap.

 _Arthur._ Amy read from the woman's lips, trembling as if she might burst into tears.

In that moment, a figure, built and tall, stumbled from the other side of the room. A book shelf, engulfed in flames toppled toward him. One of his feet was caught and was crushed under the burning shelf. He yelled in agony, falling face first. Hearing his cry, the woman turned backwards.

 _Arthur?_ She mouthed. The man lifted his head. Flames, now red and malignant burned around the couple. The door frame, their only exit, crashed as a support beam fell into it. Bright yellow flames reflected in his blue eyes as his lips tightened. Placing his hands underneath him, he pushed himself forward. His face tightened, his shoulders tensing as he squeezed out every ounce of strength he had left.

He could not get out.

Dread filled her heart as she saw neither of them would make it out. The woman flinched as crashing noises went through the room. The fire had now grown so large, too big, that save for a few burned out corners, the whole room was up in flames. The man and woman both writhed in pain as the flames blazed through, scorching them. The woman screamed and fell to the floor. _Hope!_ The man yelled. Amy could now hear her sobs through the cracking of flames. _Get out! The door frame is still holding up!_

 _It's too late,_ Amy whispered to herself as tears pricked her eyes. _She's gone_.

Movement stirred from the charred floors where the woman had collapsed. She breathed heavily, painfully pushing herself upward. Shakily she stood up, then hesitantly, stepped into the flames in front of her.

 _What are you doing?_ Amy's head screamed. The woman yelped in pain as fire licked around her. _Get out!_

The woman carefully walked over to the other side of the room, biting her lip when a flame touched her arm or leg, but persistently pushing on toward the man. When she finally reached him, she pulled closer and tightly held his hand. Lifting his head, she let it rest on her lap then placed her other hand on his shoulder. Their eyes met, and a strange calmness seemed to fill their features.

 _I couldn't find it._ The man whispered.

The woman shook her head, leaned down and brushed his cheek with the back of her hand. _I couldn't either._

Amy could not tell what his eyes held in that brief second. The man closed his eyes, and the woman held both of his hands tightly in hers. Even as the walls collapsed and all the remaining pillars crumbled, they remained in each other's embrace until nothing except rubble and charred support beams could be seen anymore. _No!_ Amy felt tugging behind her eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks, forming rivulets. _No…_

The scene changed, and soon Amy was standing in a room with green patterned wall paper. A little girl with bright ginger hair was sitting on a woman's lap, with an unsure expression on her face. She was wearing a loose pajama, and the woman a dark suit which looked like it was made of silk. With her little hands, she tugged at the ends of her hair, eyes glued to the ground. The woman whispered something, and the young girl shook her head violently.

 _I dunno._ She said, almost mechanically. The woman leaned closer, and Amy shivered as she realized who she was. Isabel Kabra. She had sharp features: an upturned mouth permanently pinned into a sneer, high, angular cheekbones and a pointed chin. Terrifying and beautiful, Isabel Kabra looked down at the girl with fire in her eyes. The girl sensed Isabel's hands clutching her tighter and squirmed.

 _I dunno, I dunno, I dun-nnno….._ Her last sentence came to a stutter and she looked like she was about to cry.

 _Now, now, Amy… I don't bite_. She loosened her grip and flashed a dazzling smile. I just want to talk. She pulled away, putting up a curious look on her face. _Look. What's that on your pajamas, Amy?_ Her voice was calm and soothing, but Amy could see burning anticipation and impatience deep in her eyes. Her younger self, however, relaxed. Isabel's mouth lifted at the corners. _Let's see... Are they… Grey bears?_

Shock struck her body as she realized what was about to happen. _No… No, no, no!_ Heat rose to her face and she lurched forward.

 _No._ Little Amy said with a frown on her face.

 _Koala bears._

Amy was screaming now. _No!_

Just as she reached them, little Amy fell from Isabel's lap, crumpling motionlessly to the floor. The room around them swirled around and dissolved into a dark vortex, leaving only Isabel Kabra looking at her straight in the eye with a sinister grin on her face. Amy found herself sucked into bright yellow eyes, with long black slits in place of human pupils, and she could no longer feel herself think. Her bones shook, coldness seeping through her veins and fear coursing through her entire body as she trembled uncontrollably.

 _It's your fault._ Isabel sang. _They're dead because of you!_ From her sides, she pulled out two sharp daggers then gazed at them admiringly. Then she turned her reptilian eyes on hers. Now… I finish what I started. She charged toward Amy, daggers poised and ready. Amy stumbled backwards, falling.

 _No…_ Please, she screamed. _No!_

"No!" Amy felt weightless for a moment, just before she crashed into the carpeted floor where the Egyptian Mau, Saladin, was contently snuggling with dreams of flying red snapper.

 _"Mmrrrrrroooooooowwwwww!"_ The cat hissed as Amy's weight came crashing down. The lights flicked on, blinding Amy momentarily. Groaning, she shielded her eyes. "Amy, what the Heck?" Dan yelled. Hands on his hips and hair tousled like a pile of hay stack, Dan Cahill glared at his sister with an annoyed expression. "Well?"

Amy didn't answer. She couldn't. Hugging herself tightly, she just looked at the floor silently.

Dan snapped his fingers in front of her impatiently. "Hello? Earth to Amy?"

 _It's your fault… your fault… They're dead because of you…._

Voices kept whispering back to her, the snippets of memory awakened after she'd realized Isabel killed her parents, and Amy covered her ears with her hands, squeezing her eyes shut. "Sh-shut up!" She screamed.

"Well, that wasn't very nice." Dan looked at her with a hurt expression. " _Mmrrrrrp._ " Saladin agreed sulking over to Dan's side. Realizing her audience, Amy snapped back to her senses and took a long and wary, but confused look to her brother and cat.

"Wh-what?" She blinked. Looking out, she realized it was still dark. "What time is it?"

"It's five o'clock in the morning." Dan replied, flicking his wrist to check his watch.

"Five o'clock?" Amy exclaimed. Groaning, she woozily got up from the floor and sat on the bed, knocking a headlamp to the side in the process. As she got some head space, breathing in and out, memories of her nightmare came flooding back, making her involuntarily shiver.

It didn't even surprise her that she had such a horrible night. The day before had been such a roller coaster of events that it made her head spin thinking about it, even now. They had almost been shredded to bits, had the murderer of their parents – Isabel Kabra - revealed and again was almost killed. She had whispered in her ear, _Thanks for the tip_ , and wondering what it meant, the hours and minutes spent with her eyes open before finally falling asleep had surprisingly brought a torrent of memories streaked with tears and guilt for the rest of the day.

Looking around the hotel room, she retraced what had happened, taking in the immensity of it all that she had unsuccessfully tried to drown in sleep. Isabel had almost killed them, yes... but they didn't die. Witnessing the horror of what the power of the 39 clues in the wrong hands could do, Irina sacrificed her life to protect them, and the other contestants had handed over their clues to the Cahill siblings. After an unconscious Isabel was carried into custody, they were questioned by the local police force. Natalie and Ian Kabra were taken to the police station for further questioning, but the rest had been let go. Amy had seen the rest of them be escorted by madrigal agents in white and black uniforms into cars that resembled the one they were taking. Then their new found great uncle Fiske – yes, great uncle had climbed in and led them - and the others - to the Four seasons hotel. He had told them, before leaving them to themselves in their hotel room, that a meeting would be held at ten the next morning with all the other contestants – the subject matter, however, he said he couldn't tell beforehand. He only told them that it was urgent and important. He had then kissed them good night – awkwardly, then left with the madrigal agents waiting behind the door. It was… weird. But at the same time, it was heart-warming that she and Dan weren't entirely alone. While it meant that they could stop running from social services now, it also meant they could have a somewhat functioning family. It was more than enough for her. But she couldn't shake away that nagging feeling she got from the gloomy shadow she glimpsed from behind all his kindness and care. She felt that what she got wasn't the end – and as much as she wanted it to be happy, that there was still much, much a head of her. And that there was still much of the dark past to uncover.

"It's not that early though," Dan piped up after watching his sister go into another Amy-silence, the ones where she was there but really wasn't. It wasn't unlike Amy to ignore him, but it worried him that Amy was spacing out more often than usual, especially after finding out the truth about their parents' death. There was obviously something that Amy wasn't telling him, but he decided not to prod. "Fiske said he'd probably come in about five-ten." Seeing the when-did-he-say-that look on Amy's face, he added, "I was playing Minecraft when he came in. You were asleep. Said he wanted to talk."

"Talk? About what?" Amy frowned as she fiddled with her hair.

"Don't ask me. A ninja's mind reading skills are limited." He said, raising his hands in surrender. "Even one as awesome as me."

Amy snorted. "Dweeb."

"Hey, do not insult a ninja master!" Dan yelled jabbing his finger in the air.

"Whatever."

A knocking came at the door, making both whip around. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment in silence, then Amy got to the door. "Yes?"

"Amy?"

"Fiske?"

"Open up. We need to talk." He replied in a low and tired voice.

"About what?" Amy raised her voice.

He paused for a moment, as if he were hesitant, then spoke.

"About your parents, and…" He swallowed.

"the secret of our family. The real secret." His voice was now starting to sound nervous.

"The Cahills are not the only ones who know about the 39 clues." Now it was only a whisper, and Amy had to strain to make it out.

"There are two more."

* * *

 **A/N: First thing I want to say - I'm sorry for the confusion. After receiving reviews about how there wasn't enough explanation for the prologue in the first chapter, I was planning on providing more backstory in flash back format, but I found that it was very - extremely - difficult to do without frustrating the readers and leaving them bewildered thinking 'What are you talking about?' The more I thought about it, the more I knew that it was going to be one unfriendly story. It's taken five drafts, and two rewrites, but I've made major reconstructions on my story, and hopefully it is going to be a lot more friendlier and will have a better flow to it. Hopefully, the story is going to get better - even great(he he :)). Again, I am sorry for making this confusing. Thanks for reading (I send you lots of love 3 )and I welcome any kind of comment unless it isn't polite. Constructive criticism is what I love most :D :D**

 **-tricolorwes**


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